


Lost and Found

by Voidwing



Category: Little Nightmares (Video Game)
Genre: Deviates Slightly, Don't Judge Me, My First AO3 Post, Novelization, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Six Deserves Nice Things, Six isn't evil, Some Crazy Ideas, Some of My Own Experiences With the Game, Theories, Warnings May Change, headcanons galore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-23 01:11:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12495060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Voidwing/pseuds/Voidwing
Summary: Six couldn't remember much before the darkness of the Maw, before the Prison. Before her suitcase bed and the constant gnawing hunger. Before the towering metal walls and the cracks to squeeze through, and the skittering creatures that sometimes left her food.All she could remember was a pale, familiar, and beautiful face enshrouded in shadow in her nightmares, darker than even the shady corners of the Maw she might have once called home. So, one day, she decided to find what she could remember.





	1. Small Discoveries

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! If you're reading this, WELCOME to my first Fic posted on Ao3, and hopefully the first fic I will actually finish! (I have a bad habit of running out of motivation at the worst times I need to stop that)
> 
> I recently got obsessed with Little Nightmares, specifically Six as a character, and then I came up with some ideas and just had to write them! I hope you enjoy reading as much as I did writing.

Six crawled through yet another passageway that was seemingly built just for children her size.  _"How strange..."_  Creeping through such a massive place forged for creatures that were hundreds of times her size, and yet finding tiny holes and passageways that were perfect for her to sneak through like a mouse finding the tiniest crevices between planks and boards was both exciting and confusing. Knowing that, it was odd that these passages had been built just for things her size. The sleek metallic sheen that her light reflected off of made that fact clear. As Six padded through the swaying hall of a vent, she couldn’t help but wonder just why…

She stubbed her toe on a stuck-up screw in the vent, though it thankfully wasn’t sharp. But gosh darn it, it hurt! Six stopped and shuddered and gasped as she tried to squeeze the pain out of her foot with her hands, feeling her toe swell quite a bit, but it wasn’t bleeding. She’d live. This had happened countless times before, anyway. She pulled her raincoat around herself tighter and flicked her lighter back on. _“Can’t stop for too long…”_

|-----|

Six saw a light ahead, and ran a little faster. It wasn’t the end of the long stretch of metallic, claustrophobic walls, unfortunately, but a grate. Water trickled through one above, and dripped down through a grate that she would walk across. There wasn’t even room for her foot to fit through the spaces, so Six just stepped on it, feeling and hearing the rain pitter-patter on her raincoat. It was relaxing.

Six sighed softly as she moved on. She felt her stomach clench in its usual fashion for just a moment, but she didn’t mind. She’d gone much longer without eating than this. Six was sure she'd find something to eat in the Maw, anyway.

|-----|

Six hummed a tiny tune to herself as the vent finally ended, dropping her out onto solid ground. The scent of the ocean was stronger here, and ahead, Six saw a yawning chasm spanned by a set of stairs. Wind howled through the cavernous room, and Six saw colossal chains hanging across the chasm above – their links many, many times her size.

As she got closer to the stairs, the wind began to blow her black hair out of her face and the hood of her raincoat back. Six pressed a hand to her face and grabbed the hood, and started up the steps. The wind soon threatened to sweep her off into the abyss below, but she continued upwards with no more trouble.

Just past the chasm was the familiar pitch-black darkness that seemed to seep through the cracks of the Maw like poisonous sludge. It felt thicker than mud by itself, but thankfully Six had her lighter. She flicked the light on and was greeted by a small statuette. Its Japanese-like attire and geisha mask looked…familiar…

A sickly feeling suddenly curdled in the pit of her stomach, and a hungry growl echoed out. Six held a hand over her stomach as her head pounded just from looking at the little doll statue. Whispers in her mind told her to break it, and release…something. Her head continued to pound like a hammer to her skull as she crept over to it. Six realized as she came up to it that it was nearly as tall as she was, so she prepared herself and pushed on the statuette with all her might.

She pushed, and pushed, but it didn’t budge. Her stomach gurgled lowly, twisting and churning. Six doubled over and fell to her knees, squeezing her thin middle tightly to lessen the painful feeling. Her mind chipped, but those whispers remained. _“Smash it…”_ Six stood wearily. She steeled herself and stepped back, then ran up and tackled the statuette with everything she had. It tipped over seemingly without weight and shattered loudly against the metal-plated flooring. Six recovered quickly, feeling both her mind and her stomach settle down slightly. The whispers had changed. _“Whole…”_

Six breathed deep, but then dropped her lighter and reached for her throat as a dark fog, darker than the seeping shadows of the Maw, tore through the air and down her gullet. She screamed into the gloom, but nothing came out. The thing in her throat hurt like a thousand cuts scraping down the inside of her mouth. But then the rushing, tearing feeling stopped as soon as it had started, leaving a sense of…fullness. Six’s mind was clearer than it had been in ages, and her stomach felt content. Even the encroaching shadows felt a little less oppressive. Still, Six flicked the lighter on once again and moved on. The horror of what had happened was lessened by a realization – she wasn’t hungry and wasn’t in as much pain. Whatever that was…she needed to find more of it.

|-----|

The couch had certainly _looked_ comfortable, but the cushions had somehow become uncomfortably hard and uncomfortably wet at the same time. Six sighed and jumped down, annoyed at the now-constant dampness of her bare feet.

The small window in a massive door made enough light to see by, leading Six to a bare cot that towered over her. She climbed up onto a nearby suitcase and hopped up onto the surprisingly soft mattress. Six jumped once, then twice to test it, then started bouncing on the bed like the small child she really was. She couldn’t help but giggle as she bounced over and over, making silly faces every time she flew through the air, higher and higher. Six really started to laugh, losing her concentration and nearly landing flat on her face. Her hood came loose, releasing a nest of oily black hair. Her hair fluttered and swept away to reveal her green eyes that were both sharpened and dulled by her time in the depths of the Maw. Marks in the shape of an eye that were normally covered by her matted hair and hood were free to feel the rushing air of Six’s bouncing. She didn’t notice the hood of her raincoat loosening and continued to play even when some dark, instinctual corner of her mind told her that this was unnecessary, and that she was wasting precious time. She needed to keep moving, that part of her grumbled, but the rest of Six told her to have fun while she could. And she did just that.

...

...

Six curled up and held her stomach, but not from hunger. Her stomach hurt and her throat rasped from laughing, and she enjoyed every second of it. This little bit of joy was what Six needed. A few tears spilled from her green eyes, and she wiped them away as she stood to move on. She hopped once, then twice, and reached for the opening above the cot. She looked back at the welcoming trampoline below and smiled before crawling through to the next room.

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

I wanted to drop you into the game with slightly more information than the game itself gave you. But just slightly.

I'm honestly not sure if I've got the pacing down, considering how quickly the game itself moves along. I put the short time skips in there because I was pretty sure describing all of the vents Six was crawling through would get boring eventually, and also to show that each of them is a separate moment.

I'm also a little worried about the chapter length - I want them to be longer, but with this chapter I found a good place to stop, and I didn't want the chapter to feel unnecessarily long, especially moving forward.

Please give me feedback, reader(s)! I neeeed it!


	2. Little Miracles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadows. Sludge. And a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you I had some ideas.

The next room was brightly lit and almost warm. Unfortunately, there was a giant’s pair of legs dangling above a chair. Six blinked, admittedly creeped out, but shrugged it off. She didn’t even bother to open the envelope on the floor next to the chair.

The only noticeable exit was yet another door twenty times her height. An intricate design of a looming eye was carved into the door, and it too felt familiar, like a tickle in the back of her mind; thankfully, it did not hurt. Six shook the feeling away, and saw her way out. The door’s yellow handle seemed to tease her, surely just out of her reach of even her greatest jumps. Six turned back to the large chair, and knew then what to do.

…

The chair was very heavy, but Six felt her confidence grow as she grunted and pushed the chair over to the door almost with ease. She quickly hopped up and then leaped off the chair and grabbed the handle. The door creaked and nearly flew open, but Six made a perfect 3-point landing in the darkness of the next room. She mentally applauded herself, and flicked her lighter open.

The black, sickly goo that coated the center of the room quickly stopped her bravado. The gunk wasn’t familiar in that she couldn’t remember exactly what it was, but that she had seen it many, many times before.

 _“Leeches…”_ Six sighed before quickly stepping around the sludge. She knew from past experience that getting too close could mean death. Making sure she was a safe distance away, Six looked around the rest of the room: a big toilet, a towering fridge, and a torn opening in the metallic wall were the only things that seemed even remotely important. Six then noticed that the handle of the fridge had small smudgy handprints on it- even smaller than hers. _“Am I supposed to open this?”_

Six turned off her lighter, feeling the shadows grow deeper, and yanked on the handle with all of her childish might. The door was stuck, at first, before finally tearing open and nearly throwing Six off balance. As she steadied herself, Six heard the skittering chirps of one of the tiny creatures she had seen in her time in the Maw. She turned towards the sound, turning her lighter back on. She saw it dash towards the crack in the wall and dive into it. Six blinked, curious, then rushed over to the hole herself.

It led to another vent. _“What a surprise…”_ Thankfully, this one was much shorter. The passage quickly ended in a small room with piles of trash in the corners. The little thing she had followed was curled up and shivering in front of an unlit lantern. As Six crawled out and stood, the…" _Nome! I’ll call it a Nome."_  looked up at her, but didn’t move otherwise. Six frowned, and stepped over to the lantern and lit it with her own light. The Nome finally stood and chirped appreciatively to Six before warming its hands by the lantern.

Six suddenly realized that even with the Nome’s tall hat-thing, she was still taller than it was. She thought of how sad they must be, smaller than anything else in this world - even her. She quickly stepped over to the Nome, picked it up from behind, and hugged it tight. Six felt the Nome’s happy surprise, but then it tried to wiggle out of her grasp. She let it go, but then it turned and wrapped its arms around her waist with its tall cone-hat poking her cheek. Six beamed and hugged the little thing again, feeling just a little bit better.

The Nome let go, then pointed to something. Six looked – it was pointing to the lit lantern in the center of the room. Then it pointed at her. Six blinked, then pointed a hand to herself in question. _“What does it mean?”_ The Nome mimed warming its hands, then pointed to her again. Six flicked her lighter back on and held it out. The Nome shook its head, almost exasperatedly, and pointed specifically at Six.

Six stared in misunderstanding at first, but then a happy smile nearly cracked her face in two. She hugged the Nome and spun it around, giggling. She’d made a friend! The Nome chittered and squeaked, just as happy as she was. A few joyful tears streamed down her face, and she felt a lot better.

Six set the Nome down and crouched down onto the cool metal floor. She whispered to it, her voice raspy and faint from disuse. "ᵢ ₕₐᵥₑ ₜₒ ₗₑₐᵥₑ...Dₒ yₒᵤ wₐₙₜ ₜₒ cₒₘₑ wᵢₜₕ ₘₑ?"

The Nome tilted its head, then began to pace. It locked its arms behind its back as it walked in circles around the room. Six just watched, waiting for an answer.

...

Finally, it ran over to Six and leaped onto her shoulders; its tiny hands grasping the edges of the hood of her raincoat to steady itself. Six nearly toppled over but was able to adjust herself to the decidedly small weight on her shoulders. The Nome giggled and chirped out a “Go!” and pointed to the way out.

…

Six and the little Nome made their way up the fridge, using its shelves as a ladder. Thankfully, the Nome wasn’t too heavy or obtrusive, even when it nearly lost its balance on the way up. The two found themselves on a second floor, but then heard an odd…squelching sound. The Nome perched on Six’s shoulders squealed in terror and wrapped its arms around her head. Six knew what it was, especially when the squelching turned into a screech and a slithering mass of gunk dropped from the ceiling.

Six’s heartbeat began to race, but she did not scream or cry out. She flicked her lighter on and she just ran. She continued to run when another leech dropped while the weight on her shoulders squeaked and cried in fear. She ran and jumped when a gap in the floorboards dared to try and stop her, then checked to make sure the weight on her shoulders hadn’t fallen off during flight. The leeches screeched bloody murder; moving as fast as their sludgy bodies could allow, but Six and the Nome were faster. Six ran to the dim light of another room at the end of the hall, the Nome both cheering her on and chattering in fear.

Another leech dropped in front of them, but Six just jumped over it to keep her momentum. Somehow, there wasn’t much of the usual gunk the leeches left behind in the hall - Six thanked whatever divine beings possibly existed for that little miracle.

Six dove through the entrance into the light, the little Nome tumbling off her shoulders. It immediately grabbed for its hat to not let it come loose. Six, panting heavily, looked back at the leeches which seemed to be repulsed by the bright light that filled the room. An ear-piercing, furious shriek met her before they all turned and slithered away into the dark.

Six looked back at the Nome, who had its arms crossed and was huffing unhappily. Six smiled sheepishly before crouching down to let the Nome back on her shoulders. She looked around, seeing the familiar metal walls and high ceiling. A switch on one wall, with a box underneath it, trash littered around, and a lantern alone in a corner. There was no other visible way out besides the leech-filled hall behind them.

The Nome hopped up on Six’s shoulders, grabbing the rubbery hood of her raincoat once more. Six smiled and patted one of its tiny hands with hers. It trilled appreciatively, then urged her towards the lantern. She lit it, making the Nome giggle and clap its hands like a child seeing a magic trick.

Six turned towards the switch, high on the wall. She climbed up the box underneath it, but was unable to reach the switch on her own. Almost instinctually, the Nome balanced itself on her shoulders and jumped up to the handle, grabbing on with no trouble. The switch, however, did not move. Six just stared as the Nome hung there, waiting for the switch to shift into place. It did not.

Six finally started giggling when the Nome tried flailing its legs, sadly to no effect. It tried pulling the switch downwards, then attempted forcing its entire weight onto the switch. It grunted and grumbled and squeaked with effort, but finally gave up with a dramatic high-pitched sigh and looked back to see Six with her forehead on the ground coughing and laughing her lungs out. The Nome just sighed again, and mentally tapped its foot waiting for Six to finish.

It took a while.

…

Six finally stood up, wiping the tears from her eyes and feeling the stitches in her sides fade. She looked up to see the Nome sitting impatiently on the switch handle. She snorted again, but walked over and waved up at the Nome. It lowered itself down to grab the switch and dangled its little stubby feet. Six furrowed her eyebrows, but did nothing except jump and grab its feet. Its…skin was tough, and the Nome seemed to have no problems with holding Six’s weight there.

With Six’s weight added, the switch finally shifted and clunked loudly into place. Six let go first, then hopped down onto the metal flooring to see a wall split into two and retract. As she watched, she heard the Nome chirp. She expected it to walk beside her, but then the Nome landed on her back from a jump from the switch, scrabbling for purchase on her raincoat. Instead, it fell on its butt and squeaked in slight pain.

Six simply looked down at the little Nome, and hoped she wouldn’t bust out laughing again – her throat still felt scratchy from all of her laughing. She picked it up gently, lifting it up and onto her shoulders; it trilled in embarrassment and gratitude.

The two noticed that the next room wasn’t very dark either, but was very dangerous. Two platforms hung above an abyss - the one they were standing on and the one with the door out. They saw leeches hanging from pipes above. The metal walls were as flat as always, leaving no hand or footholds. Six would have to jump the whole way across; the very long distance across.

Six reached up to the Nome and moved its arms to wrap gently around her neck. She had to make absolutely sure it wouldn’t fall when she jumped. The Nome seemed to understand and snuggled tighter into Six’s body. Six smiled, then got a running start.

The Nome chittered nervously, then squealed when Six leaped over the yawning chasm. held on tight as they sailed through the air, and Six landed almost perfectly. She recovered quickly and dashed into the next room before any leeches got the drop on them. She fell to her knees and let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding as the door behind them clattered shut. The Nome sighed in response, hugging her as well as it could in its position.

The two stopped to relax, letting their hearts calm as much as possible.

|-----|

Six and the Nome tugged on the splintery board as one, pulling it free and throwing themselves backwards. They looked at each other laid out on the ground and just shook their heads. The two crawled through the now unblocked door.

The Nome crawled onto Six’s shoulders as she flicked her lighter on. They heard a skittering sound and saw another Nome speeding away, gurgling in terror. Six’s Nome urged her onwards and called to the one running away. Six started a good sprint, hoping to catch up to the fleeing Nome, but then…

            **_CRACK-KRUNCH_**

Some of the floorboards had weakened, and even Six and the Nome’s minuscule weight was enough to break them. The Nome flew off of Six’s shoulders as she screamed, but thankfully the fall wasn’t too long. Six landed face-first on the ground; disgusting, slimy gunk covering her face forcing the stench of death and blood and sewage down her nostrils. She felt her entire body seize up at the smell and her head swam, but she held down the sick that bubbled in her guts.

Six picked her head up wearily and did her best to shake away the nausea. She saw that the floor was covered in the leeches’ sludge that they seemed to leak everywhere. The tiny, tiny bit of light in the room granted her that much to see- _“WHERE’S MY LIGHTER? WHERE’S THE NOME?!”_

Six scrabbled and scraped away the oily goo that seemed to coat everything, both searching for the shiny metal of her lighter and listening for the gurgles and squeaks of her Nome friend. The goop seemed to tug at her fingers, resistant to being pulled apart like black glue.

Finally, Six hit something solid. She desperately grabbed for it, pulling a wad of gunk with it. Her lighter, covered in gunge on the outside. She popped it open, and it was perfectly clean inside. She wiped her thumb on a spare spot on her coat, and flicked it on.

The light was a miracle – a blessing from the heavens now. She could see! She could see…the squirming, slithering leeches everywhere. Everything else was sludge, except…the Nome’s hat laying alone; a pale white, pointy cap now splotched with the dark ooze.

_“No… **NO!** ”_

She crawled to the hat and curled into a ball around it, not caring for the leeches that seemed to finally notice her. She didn’t care about the sludge that she was now laying in. Six sobbed and cried incomprehensibly, almost as loudly as the horrific shrieking that began to surround her. Six’s stomach clenched and twisted and her head pounded like a hammer to an anvil. Her mind began to break as she mourned for her only friend. Her lighter had gone out, but it didn’t matter anymore. The only thing that cared about her in this world had been taken away…

The leeches closed in, and Six let out one last bawling wail into the gloom.


End file.
